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Commemorative picnic for Sharif Barko, Darfur, and Sudan

Sunday 18 June, 2023 at Sharif's Bench in Alexandra Park, London


Together with Waging Peace, a charity supporting Sudanese refugees, Haringey Welcome had long planned a public commemorative event for Sharif and that of other victims and survivors from Sudan. Recently the unfolding crisis in Sudan and in the Darfur region of the country has made the need for commemoration and solidarity with Sudanese communities in the UK all the more pressing and urgent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over the past year Sharif's friends in the UK had crowdfunded a memorial bench now sited in The Grove, Alexandra Palace. It was here on Sunday 18 June - Father’s Day - that we gathered for an extraordinary, poignant, and emotional occasion. Approximately 80 people came from all over the UK, many from Darfur or other parts of Sudan. It was a remarkable and much needed coming together of people to grieve, to support, to cry, to laugh, to hope and to heal. We circled up and held a ceremony during the afternoon, where many spoke, of Sharif, of their own families and the dire situation in Darfur and Sudan. We sang and called together for ‘freedom, peace, and justice’ (or ‘hurriya, salaam, wa ‘adala’). And a ribbon ceremony took place where each person walked silently to the bench and tied a ribbon in memory of a loved one. It was a fitting way, too, to mark the beginning of Refugee Week, the theme of which is ‘compassion’. 

Both our Haringey MPs, though unable to attend in person, were keen to show their solidarity. A supportive statement from David Lammy was read out during the ceremony. Catherine West asked to meet members of Haringey’s Sudanese community, including asylum seekers in Home Office accommodation, at the bench two days before the event. Haringey’s Sudanese community has been invited by both MPs to keep in touch and to visit them in Parliament.

We also call on you to act. We acknowledge the ongoing trauma for Sudanese people as their country continues to be brutally torn apart and call for all to speak up in solidarity. Please raise awareness in your networks and in social media of the urgent need for:

  • Expedited asylum processing for those several thousand Sudanese asylum seekers already in the UK.

  • Expedited family reunion and extension of family reunion to include close adult relatives.

  • Creation of a resettlement scheme to welcome more Sudanese refugees to the UK.

  • Ensure there is a coordinated nationwide package of welcome and integration assistance for Sudanese new arrivals.

  • Call for Britain to take a lead role as part of the international community in creating a peacekeeping force and using other measures to end the conflict and atrocities in Sudan and particularly Darfur before it escalates further.

 
In addition, the community from West Darfur/Geneina living in exile in the UK is specifically calling for the following:

  • Immediate ceasefire in Darfur.

  • International UN/AU intervention to protect civilians.

  • International urgent and transparent investigation of war crimes.

  • Opening of safe corridors for citizens to escape war, and of safe passage for humanitarian aid.

  • Urgent provision of water, food, and medicine to those trapped in Geneina, those who are displaced, and those who are now refugees across the border in Chad.

The event was also covered by Haringey Community Press. This is their report.

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On March 21st 2021, we held a memorial for Sharif on Zoom. Family and friends were able to get together and share their memories of Sharif. It was recorded and can be seen here. 

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